Plan for solar power plant placed on hold
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
March 19, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — A plan to lease land at the Sunset Reservoir for $1 a year to a private company, which would build a solar power plant at the city-owned site, was questioned and delayed Wednesday by lawmakers.
Under the plan touted by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Recurrent Energy would sell all of the power from a four-city-block, 5-megawatt plant to The City for upwards of $2 million a year for 25 years.
Three supervisors, who have supported increasing San Francisco’s energy-utility ownership and use of renewable energy sources, questioned the deal’s price tag and conditions during a committee hearing. They directed staff to investigate several issues, including potential city ownership of the plant, and report back to the committee April 22.
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi described a pending board decision about the project as a “tipping point” for the future of public power and city-led renewable-energy generation.
